First Impressions
by MistyRiver
Summary: Set during 'The Han Solo Trilogy' books. When Han lands on Alderaan for repairs, he runs into a little someone on his way to the spaceport. No prizes for guessing who... Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or anything associated with it. I wish I did, but I don't. There. You happy now? Don't sue!**

**A.N.** Hey everyone! This is just a random little fic that popped into my head one day. It's set during 'The Paradise Snare' (The Han Solo Trilogy: Volume One) when Han is on Alderaan for repairs. Han is round about nineteen or twenty in this part so Leia is only about ten! How cute! Hope you enjoy, and please review with your comments, good or bad! (P.S. Pilgrim 921 is what Bria Tharen is known as when she's working in the spice factories on Ylesia, and Vykk Draygo is Han's fake ID at this point,in case you didn't know.)

**First Impressions**

Han gazed across the sweeping lawn in front of the royal palace. There were several couples sitting on rugs with their arms around each other, watching as the large sun sank below the horizon. He slowed down and stopped, standing at the edge of the lawn. It was a long time since he had seen a sunset like that. On Ylesia, you could see next to nothing through the rain, and this was a welcome change. He sighed. The sky had turned a beautiful reddish-gold. _Almost like 921's hair… _he thought dreamily. He lowered his head. Would he be able to find her, once he got back to Ylesia? His eyes became glazed as he remembered her, her hair, her eyes, her skin… he shook his head. Why was he still thinking about her? He had never thought this much about any other woman, save when he was with her. There was something about Pilgrim 921, though. Something different. She was Corellian, he knew that. He had a feeling she had lived a far better life than she was now. Perhaps she had been rich…

He raised his head, pulling himself out of his little dream. He glanced at the few people wandering about the garden. He was about to turn and head back to the spaceport when he noticed a small, dark-haired girl staring at him from a stone bench. He was startled. _Where do I recognise her from?_ He was sure he had seen her before… where? Who was she?

He started._ The message! She's that little kid princess! _She was that kid who had been sitting on Bail Organa's knee in the message that had popped up on Han's vid-screen as he was entering Alderaan. He smiled nervously. She stared stonily back at him. _Uh… why's she staring at me? _He glanced at her again, decided against wondering any more, and turned to go. In an instant, she was at his side, looking up at him. He stopped, taken aback.

"Uh… hello, miss… Princess Organa."

She nodded. "Hi. Good try at the greeting, but I'm known round here as Princess _Leia_."

He glanced at his feet. "Um, ok… sorry, Princess Leia."

She suddenly smiled. "No problem. Not a lot of people get it first time. Who are you, anyway?"

Han was so nervous about talking to the child princess he almost gave the game away. "My name is… Pilot Vykk Draygo, Princess."

She nodded slowly. "What are you doing on Alderaan?"

"Well, I was attacked by pirates on a run. Brought my ship in for repairs. My gunner was injured too, so he's being seen to."

Her eyes widened. "Pirates? Wow! Did you get boarded?"

He grinned. "Nah. Blasted them with a couple of missiles."

She looked away. "Aah… Arakyd concussion missiles, I expect?"

Han was taken aback. "Yes! How'd you know?"

She shrugged, grinning. "I have a lot of time to kill, and the palace has a huge library. Your whole uniform, attitude, style…" she glanced at his hair, which was sticking up at the top again, "call it a lucky guess, but I'd say you're just a pretty minor pilot, doing your runs for as much as you can."

She folded her arms, staring up at him expectantly. He was totally shocked. _Minions of Xendor, how does this kid know so much about piloting? She can tell what kind of pilot a guy is by looking at him! _He shook his head in disbelief and replied, "Well… yeah, I suppose you could say that."

She nodded curtly, grinning. "Just as I expected. Not much more than a low-life and a scum."

_This _brought Han out of shock. "_What? _Low-life? Scum?" He stared down at her, his forehead furrowed. "Look, Princess, I know you're rich, popular, powerful, whatever…" he continued to glare at her, using his hands to act out his point, "and I can take a lot of jibes, but I'm sorry to say that I have to draw the line when people call me 'low-life', 'scum', or anything else to that effect. I've been…" He suddenly halted, as if remembering he was talking to royalty. He looked embarrassed. "Er… I mean… um…" he glanced down and said quietly, "Sorry, Princess."

Leia had been silent all this time, staring up at him in amusement with her arms folded. As he looked gingerly up at her, she shook her head, grinning. "Don't worry about it." She sighed. "I've been brought up totally the opposite from this, but I like it when somebody can talk to me as if I'm a normal person. Anyone who meets me, no matter how close I am to them, treats me as if I'm going to order their heads sliced off if they so much as don't bow when they see me. It can get annoying. I _know _I'm royalty, but I'm still a kid!" She looked into his eyes. "Thank you."

Han smiled in amazement and dropped to his knee so he was at her eye level. "Hey, Your Worship, it's fine," he grinned, almost sarcastically. "You ever need someone to treat you like a 'normal' person, you call on me." He glanced to the ground, then back up at her, smiling. "I've had enough beatings to know what it's like to be what you call 'normal'."

She maintained eye contact as he rose to his feet. "Yeah," she nodded, "that is, if you'll be on Alderaan for more than a day.

He mocked confusion. "Why, Your Highness, I don't know what you mean." He cocked his head to one side, trying to look puzzled.

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Remember, I know you're only doing whatever you're doing for money. And that means you won't be wasting too much time talking to kid princesses." She sighed dramatically. "You'll be gone before the sun rises."

"What?" Han looked up and swore. The sky was black, and judging by the fact all the little lovebirds on the lawn were gone, it had been for quite some time. He ran his hands through his heir distractedly. "Look, I'm sorry, kid, I've been here too long already. I'm supposed to go visit my co-pilot in the spaceport hospital. He squinted across the street to a place more brightly lit. He turned towards it, then looked at the princess again. "Well, Princess, I'm not going to say I'll se you 'round, 'cos I won't." He smiled down at her. "It was nice meeting you. I hope you have fun chopping people's heads off for not bowing."

She glared up at him. "I could quite easily have it done to you."

He flinched and nodded. "Point taken. Well… goodbye, Princess." He grinned again. "May we meet again."

She nodded sarcastically, and muttered, quite audibly, "_Over my dead body_."

Han decided not to press the matter and gave the child a final mock salute (and received one back from her) before starting to stride away across the street.

Leia noticed her father standing in the shadow of a neighbouring tree, smiling at her. As she walked towards him, she glanced at 'Vykk's' tall figure disappearing round a building. She reached her father, who put an arm around her and smiled. "I see you've made a new friend."

She paused before nodding. "Yes." She looked up at her father and her face broke into a smile. "And I don't know why, but I have a feeling I'll see him again."

**A.N. **Whoo-hoo! I'm finished! Great stuff, lads! I haven't written in ages, but I've got Easter holidays now, so I'll try and finish off a few things. I promise you, I'm still working on WOTC! It might take a while to finish it, but hey! Hope you enjoyed this, please R&R, you peeps are the best! **MistyRiver xo :op**


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